isprsarchives XL 5 W2 219 2013
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
DOCUMENTING ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN BAHIA, BRAZIL, USING
SPHERICAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY
A.L. de Amorim*, G. Fangi**, E.S. Malinverni**
*Faculdade de Arquitetura, Universidade Federal da Bahia,
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
[email protected]
**Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
g.fangi;[email protected]
KEY WORDS: Architectural Heritage (AH), Spherical Photogrammetry, Documentation, CAD Modeling; GIS
ABSTRACT:
The Cultural Heritage disappears at a rate higher than we are able, not only, to restore but also to document: human and natural
factors, negligence or worst, deliberate demolitions put in danger the collective Architectural Heritage (AH). According to CIPA
statements, the recording is important and has to follow some guidelines. The Architectural and Urban Heritage data have to be
historically related, critically assessed and analyzed, before to be organized according to a thematic structure and become available
for further uses. This paper shows the experiences developed by the Laboratory of Computer Graphics applied to Architecture and
Design (LCAD), at the Architecture School of the Federal University of Bahia (FAUFBA), Brazil, in cooperation with the Università
Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM, DICEA Department), Italy, in documenting architectural heritage. The research set up now has
been carried out in the historical sites of Bahia, as Pelourinho neighborhood, a World Heritage by UNESCO. Other historical sites
are in the plan of this survey, like the cities of Lençóis and Mucugê in Chapada Diamantina region. The aim is to build a
technological platform based on low cost digital technologies and open source tools, such as Panoramic Spherical Photogrammetry,
Spatial Database, Geographic Information Systems, Three-dimensional Geometric Modeling, CAD technology, for the collection,
validation and dissemination of AH.
1. INTRODUCTION
Besides the more obvious applications in conservation and
restoration of the buildings, the architectural documentation
plays a vital role in preserving the memory of this heritage.
This is a highly relevant aspect, given the impossibility of the
physical preservation of all significant samples. There are
several reasons for this, from the simple effect of time and
weather, to more serious and dangerous causes such as heavy
rains and floods, fires, earthquakes, neglect, abandonment
and vandalism, among others (Amorim, 2007).
In Letellier words: Today the world is losing its architectural
and archaeological cultural heritage faster than it can be
documented. Human-caused disasters, such as war and
uncontrolled development, are major culprits. Natural
disasters, neglect, and inappropriate conservation are also
among the reasons that this heritage is vanishing. Although
we should strive to preserve as much as possible of our
architectural and archaeological cultural heritage, we
cannot save everything. One of the options available to
heritage managers and decision makers is to document this
heritage before it is lost. (Letellier, 2007).
Bahia state has been a pioneer in Brazil on leading a large
initiative on documenting its cultural heritage; it takes more
than 30 years and covers about one thousand and a hundred
monuments. This important work began 1974, in order to
create the inventory of cultural collection protection of Bahia,
called IPAC (Inventário de Proteção do Acervo Cultural da
Bahia), which divides the state in five regions, for inventory
purpose. One of these issues is dedicated to the cities of
Chapada Diamantina region where a lot of very smalls and
delicate architectural exist, like Lençóis, Mucugê, Rio de
Contas, and Igatú, among others (BAHIA, 1980). This work
was sponsored by the Bahia State Government and it was
published in six books, printed in black & white.
Although broad and important, this work does not cover all
the Architectural Heritage of Bahia, which is continually
subjected to all kinds of risks. This inventory, prepared for
the purpose of knowledge, is not enough to confer effective
protection efficiently, given the fact that some buildings
which were listed no longer exist. This fact is particularly
worrying considering that, except for few examples, the most
buildings from the colonial period were composed of raw
earth and wood, materials that are completely destroyed by
water and fire (Figure 1).
So, in order to protect them against the all kinds of risks,
even natural hazards, preserving the memory of Bahia’s
Cultural Heritage, it is necessary a huge effort to elaborate a
complete and detailed digital multimedia data base of Bahia’s
Architectural Heritage.
In this sense, an initiative latest (2004) promoted by the
Laboratory of Computer Graphics applied to Architecture and
Design (LCAD), at the Architecture School of the Federal
University of Bahia (FAUFBA), seeks to build this database
using several technologies like digital Photogrammetry,
digital Cartography, Spatial Database, Geographic
Information Systems, three-dimensional geometric Modeling,
CAD technology and 3D Laser scanning technology
(Amorim, 2011). In spite of the quality of work and the
results achieved, little progress was made, for lack of specific
funding sources.
This paper discuss about a developing research at the LCAD,
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. The peer-review was conducted on the basis of the abstract
219
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
with the partnership of Università Politecnica delle Marche
(UNIVPM, DICEA Department), Italy, which has a long
tradition and experience in such kind of work (Gabrielli et al.,
2007). The research aims to develop a methodological
approach to document architectural heritage in the Bahia
state, in Brazil, using a set of low cost digital technologies, as
a way to increase speed and improve the documentation
work. This is a very important aspect considering the Bahia
state has the same area than France.
requirements, developing procedures, we provide the
integration of different types of data and the knowledge of
the selected artifacts.
The Panoramic Spherical Photogrammetry (PSP) seems to
satisfy many requirements to collect in fast and simple way a
lot of AH. It is a new photogrammetric technique for
architectural recording very low-cost. It provides panoramic
images with great resolution, (much larger than any
commercial camera), distortion-free, wide Field of View (up
to 360°), reducing drastically the amount of the traditional
photogrammetric models, which are necessary to do a 3D
surveying (Fangi, 2010).
There are several advantages to using panoramic images. One
of these is that a spherical panorama, even a partial one,
normally having a larger field of view, allows a better
comprehension of the object and it needs a smaller number of
images. This is evident in indoor applications but it is also
present outdoors, where only a portion of the 360° panorama
is covered (Figures 2, 3). In addition, a wider field of view
allows the operator to get closer to the object and resulting in
a larger photo scale.
Figure 2. Example of outdoor spherical panorama: Igreja de
Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia, Bahia.
Figure 1. Example of house destruction during the period
(2005-2010) at Igatú, in Chapada Diamantina.
2. AN OVERVIEW ABOUT LOW COST AND OPEN
SOURCE CATALOUGING SOLUTIONS
The aim of this research is to build a technological platform
based on low cost digital technologies and open source tools.
The Panoramic Spherical Photogrammetry (PSP) solves the
first step of acquisition; the spatial database collects and
organizes all the information in a structural way producing
some reports.
The other improvement is the export of the database in a
desktop Geographic Information System, to localize on the
world satellite map the AH data and to display the related
data sheet or multimedia data, activating some hyperlink.
Final it is good the dissemination on Web.
Our research will focus on development of methods and
technologies for construction of libraries of 3D digital models
representing architectural artifacts in order to have access to
information in real time on off-line or web-based systems.
Analyzing different scenarios, satisfying standard and quality
Figure 3. Examples of indoor spherical panoramas: Igreja de
Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia, Bahia.
In general, as the panorama is an omnidirectional image, it
facilitates the operator in the field by freeing him from the
constraint of the fixed field of view, inherent in the traditional
camera. So it makes this acquisition method more affordable
and cheaper than other surveying approaches, for cultural and
architectural metric documentation.
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. The peer-review was conducted on the basis of the abstract
220
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
In general, panoramic images look impressive, but to be
suitable for measurement they must fulfill some rigid
geometric conditions (Fangi 2007). The PSP works by means
of an analytical approach based on spherical images to realize
2D and 3D CAD Modeling products (Figure 4).
In this last decade many architectural heritage have been
documented by this approach with good accuracy and many
details, in every parts of the World (Fangi et al., 2012; Pisa et
al., 2010).
For this reason we have decided to organize the achieved data
by means a basic database to retrieve quickly the information,
useful for different purposes: historical analysis, architectural
knowledge and promotional aspects.
localization, and so on) by a database.
The knowledge and the documentation are essential and very
important to protect and to promote the AH in general. The
cataloguing in standard format of every available data allows
deciding the priorities and the type of actions for the
monument maintenance and restoration. We give an example
of a dedicated IS, collecting and organizing several kinds of
documents.
3.1. Database collection and organization: the Object
Table
The correct design of the database is essential to solve the
required goals. The database design process consists of the
following steps: to determine the purpose of the database, to
find and organize all the required types of information, to
divide them into tables, to identify the list of each item
characterizing the subject (a potential field in each table), to
select a field like primary key, to identify uniquely each
subject (record in the table). Even if this list is not complete,
it is a good starting point and you can continue to refine it up
to a better design.
The use of the software Microsoft Access allows to organize
complex and basic database based on a conceptual model,
easy to manage, that can produce a report in automatic way
too.
Figure 4. CAD 3D wireframe model of the Igreja de Nossa
Senhora da Conceição da Praia, Bahia.
According to the philosophy to use as soon as possible low
cost or well known solutions we implement the database core
in Microsoft Access. This platform is useful and simple to
manage a lot of records, each of these is referred to a single
object characterized by many attributes/features.
Once chosen the aim, the subjects and the related items, we
organized, by Microsoft Access, the information into a
simple basic database, made of only one table: list of rows
(records) and columns (fields).
The Object Table (Figure 5) is built by these elements and
stores all the collected data. The fields describe many
characteristics of each object stored in each record, using
different format such as text, number, date, hyperlink and
attached file.
The Access table is not the only product but it is possible to
produce a report in form of data sheet, which summarizes, in
organized manner, some distinctive features, useful for the
knowledge of the object. Unfortunately, this tool has not a
mapping support, so it needs to transfer the table, like a text,
in an open source GIS environment. Between the open source
software with much more performances now Quantum GIS
(QGIS) is the top. QGIS is a cross-platform free and open
source desktop GIS application that provides data viewing,
editing, and analysis capabilities.
Gary Sherman began development of Quantum GIS in early
2002, and it became an incubator project of the Open Source
Geospatial Foundation in 2007. QGIS allows the use of shape
files, coverage, and personal geo-database. Web services
(including Web Map Service and Web Feature Service) are
also supported to allow to use the data from external sources.
It has a big community of developers and users which can
provide new releases and new advanced skills. The queries
and the actions manage the choice of the information and
allow the display, by hyperlink, of documents and
multimedia contents.
3. A BASIC AH DATABASE IMPLEMENTATION
This research, how we told above, sets the objective to create
an Architectural Heritage (AH) cataloguing by means of an
Information System (IS), to access, in simple way, to
different types of multimedia contents (images, drawings, 3D
geometric models, animations, videos, descriptions,
Figure 5. The Object Table items (fields)
For the purpose of our research we built a simple Object
Table whose fields track some items such as: ID; Object
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. The peer-review was conducted on the basis of the abstract
221
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
name; Description; Localization (Continent, Nation, City, and
so on); different types of Coordinates (latitude and longitude
WGS84 and East, North UTM – WGS84); link to the
products (panoramic images, drawings, multimedia contents)
stored into a relative file path; participants (Authors) to the
database project; customization to export the table in QGIS
and other features.
The database implementation won’t redundant data, because
it wastes space, increases the likelihood of errors and
inconsistencies; but, on the other hand, it requires the
correctness and completeness of information.
printing or viewing on screen (Figure 8). It can be updated
immediately when you update the Object Table fields.
Grouping and presenting data in many different ways makes
it a meaningful tool.
Reports provide a way to distribute or archive snapshots of
your data, either by being printed out, converted to PDF or
XPS files, or exported to other file formats suitable for the
web sharing, such as XML files.
Every investigated architectural heritage was stored in each
record of a unique table and consequently the possible type of
relationship is one-to-one, recording some special
information applied to a specific product, so the table share a
common column or columns, useful to search, in a simple
query, the information.
Once generated the Object Table, the fields of each record
were populated with the information, satisfying as soon as
possible the set of items in each column (Figure 6). Then it
will be possible to create queries, add new records, manage
the information and so on.
Figure 7. The Object Form structure
Figure 6. Some records of the Object Table
3.2. The data report: the Object Form
The database keeps a list of customer information for the
purpose of producing reports. In fact another stage in
Microsoft Access is to design the report in relation to the
items that you want place on it, creating some captions to
identify them. It is a good thing to construct a report or output
listing because you have an overview of the database in
descriptive form to share it in different ways.
The Object Form is the tool that allows to organize the items
of the Object Table in specific boxes to obtain a descriptive
data sheet. A data sheet is made of controls, such as text
boxes, display data, other decorative elements, such as
separator lines or company logos. A page may contain
several headings grouping data. You can view the Object
Form structure related to our research project in Figure 7.
Arranged the database, the use of the Object Form
summarizes and displays the data in form of report or data
sheet. It’s much easier to create meaningful reports if the
database has a well-designed table structure and
relationships.
A big opportunity is that the report is filled automatically,
retrieving the information from the Object Table fields and
displays them in an attractive and informative layout for
Figure 8. The report in form of data sheet summarizes the
information of an architectural heritage stored in the database
4. QUANTUM GIS TOOLS TO MAP AN AH
The database upload in the Quantum GIS software has to
satisfy many demands: to localize the database objects in the
geographical context (Google Maps web service), to describe
them by means of data reports, and, in the same time, to
connect every available documentation with the spatial
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. The peer-review was conducted on the basis of the abstract
222
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
datum.
Georeferencing the AH allows to acquire their relationships
with the environmental and human elements, and with the
other heritage goods close to it, offering the best and the most
aware knowledge of themselves. These particular
requirements are satisfied by means of a GIS.
Using specialized photo stitching software such as PTGui and
managing the panorama by Pano2VR (GardenGnome), we
created some media rich virtual panoramic tours. For most
business purposes, a virtual panoramic tour should be
accessible everywhere. The major solution is a web-based
virtual panoramic tour.
4.1 Hyperlink for report visualization
5. THE DATA DISSEMINATION ON WEB
When the architectures are diffused in the territory and
relatively accessible, in so large amount, GIS is the better
way to display geographically an AH data collection, manage
it by the experts or to introduce it to the community, allowing
the information retrieving.
We uploaded Access database in QGIS, which stores the
attribute table, localizes the objects by the Coordinate fields
and uses the QGISOutput field to link to the data sheet or to
virtual panoramic tour (Figure 9) to know and explore the
places (Figure 10).
Figure 9. Hyperlink action to retrieve the data sheet in the
GIS database
The virtual panoramic tour is a simulation of an existing
location, usually composed of a sequence of images,
sometimes adding other multimedia elements such as sound
effects, music, narration, and text (by hotspot connection).
The starting point necessary to create the virtual panoramic
tour is the same panorama at 360°, used for the PSP
processing.
Maybe the most important factor for the protection and
preservation of the monuments is the recognition of their
value by the local people. And so people assign value to the
monument, you need them to know you and know your
history.
Nowadays, the best way to promote the knowledge of the
cultural heritage is using the web applications. So, the
dissemination of the monuments’ information is an essential
part of this project, once this diffusion of the cultural heritage
contributes widely for its recognition and value assignment.
This way, the historical sites of Lençóis and Rio de Contas,
have their own websites, respectively and , where each
registered user can navigate inside the multimedia database
and download the files they want. The social network age and
the spread of the communication on web have made possible
to share massive data directly on-line.
Regardless of immediate applications that led to the
execution of the survey, once data is produced, it needs to be
indexed, stored and preserved for later use. And to ensure
that these data can be used effectively they must be disclosed,
published and retrieved. That closes the cycle that
encompasses planning, gathering, processing, indexing,
storage, publication, dissemination, retrieval and use of data
and information on buildings and architectural ensembles.
Information which in turn will influence the conservation and
interventions on these sites by generating a new cycle of
documentation, to be repeated indefinitely throughout the
lifetime of the building and sometimes even after their
destruction.
In this new approach, the final result of this research is
related to the dissemination of the AH database by means of
the Google platform. At the moment we have tried to use an
experimental data visualization web application to gather,
visualize, and share bigger table data on-line: Fusion Tables
(Google Drive environment) (Figure 11).
We have uploaded the data table from spreadsheet or CSV
file and then filtered and displayed it on satellite map;
successively we shall customize the layout according to ours
necessity.
Figure 10. Virtual panoramic tour joints the data sheet (by
hotspot connection) stored in the GIS database
In addition to its great potential for visual exploration of
monuments and historic sites, the sense of immersion that
this kind of resource provides combining a high level of
detail and realism, the panorama can be used as a powerful
interface to show multimedia data related to the displayed
objects in the scene. All this can be done according to levels
of information previously selected for different types of
users.
All the data are stored in Google Drive or it will be possible
to use other web spaces. The updating of any new table is
very easy by means of the merge function that generates a
single visualization including both sets of data and showing
the latest value too. The Google platform makes the data on a
map immediately: points, lines, polygons, customer
addresses, place names, countries and more can be mapped
automatically by means the location data stored in the fields
of the table.
Exporting the KML file you can view it in Google Earth or
providing a dynamic link to Fusion Table, any changes to the
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. The peer-review was conducted on the basis of the abstract
223
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
data online are reflected in Google Earth and share it to the
community. The data can be shared at different levels and
discussed with others, or to find public data combining with
yours for a better visualization of all information in one
place.
You can share only what you want, keeping some of your
dataset private and publishing a subset of rows or columns
according to own share permissions. This makes it a powerful
tool when you want to diffuse and promote the knowledge of
the building heritage on the World. It is as a big community
that works together.
Fangi, G., 2007. The Multi-image spherical Panoramas as a
tool for Architectural Survey. In: ISPRS International
Archives, Vol. XXXVI, Part. 5/C53, CIPA Archives, Vol.
XXI, pp. 311-316.
Fangi, G., 2010. Multiscale Multiresolution Spherical
Photogrammetry With Long Focal Lenses For Architectural
Surveys. In: ISPRS International Archives, Vol. XXXVIII,
Part 5, pp. 228-233.
Fangi, G., Pierdicca, R., 2012. Notre Dame du Haut by
Spherical Photogrammetry integrated by Point Clouds
generated by Multi-view Software. International Journal of
Cultural Heritage in the Digital Era, Vol. I, n. 3, pp. 461478.
Gabrielli, M., Malinverni, E. S., 2007. Multimedia Database
for the Heritage Information System of the Ancyra Project.
In: Proceedings of XXI CIPA International Symposium
“Anticipating the Future of the Cultural Past”, Athens
(Greece), pp. 323-417.
Figure 11. Dissemination on web by Fusion Tables in Google
Letellier, R., 2007. Recording, Documentation, and
Information Management for the Conservation of Heritage
Places: guiding principles. The Getty Conservation Institute,
Los Angeles.
CONCLUSIONS
As explained here, the documentation process for
architectural and urban sites, because of the amount of
variables involved and resources allocated is a complex and
multidisciplinary activity, involving traditional disciplines
such as architecture, design, survey methods, history and art
history and strongly combining digital microelectronics,
computer science and information science, involving
significant technological, financial and human resources.
Pisa, C., Zeppa, F., Fangi, G., 2010. Spherical
Photogrammetry for Cultural Heritage - San Galgano Abbey,
Siena, Italy And Roman Theatre, Sabratha, Libya. In: ACM
Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, Vol. 4, No. 3
The documentation can’t protect physically the buildings, but
can provide information for their restoration in case of any
accident. However, in case of the building being completely
wracked, the multimedia database could preserve its memory
for the future generations and educational purposes.
Finally, with this public divulgation of this architectural
heritage database, we hope to contribute for historical sites
preservation by promoting the knowledge about them. The
valorization of these urban sets is an effective way to protect
them and call the attention for the urgency of a heritage
protection policy and the risk they are submitted
continuously. By the end of this project, it is expected that all
this data and information will be available at the project
website on the internet.
REFERENCES
Amorim, A. L., 2007. Documenting architectural heritage in
Bahia – Brazil, using digital technologies. In: Proceedings of
XXI CIPA International Symposium “Anticipating the Future
of the Cultural Past”, Athens (Greece), pp. 61-66.
Amorim, A. L., 2011: Methodological aspects of architectural
documentation. In: Proceedings of XXIII International CIPA
Symposium, Prague (Czech Republic).
BAHIA, Inventário de proteção do acervo cultural da Bahia.
Monumentos e sítios da Serra Geral e Chapada Diamantina.
v. 4. Salvador, 1980.
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. The peer-review was conducted on the basis of the abstract
224
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
DOCUMENTING ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN BAHIA, BRAZIL, USING
SPHERICAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY
A.L. de Amorim*, G. Fangi**, E.S. Malinverni**
*Faculdade de Arquitetura, Universidade Federal da Bahia,
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
[email protected]
**Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy
g.fangi;[email protected]
KEY WORDS: Architectural Heritage (AH), Spherical Photogrammetry, Documentation, CAD Modeling; GIS
ABSTRACT:
The Cultural Heritage disappears at a rate higher than we are able, not only, to restore but also to document: human and natural
factors, negligence or worst, deliberate demolitions put in danger the collective Architectural Heritage (AH). According to CIPA
statements, the recording is important and has to follow some guidelines. The Architectural and Urban Heritage data have to be
historically related, critically assessed and analyzed, before to be organized according to a thematic structure and become available
for further uses. This paper shows the experiences developed by the Laboratory of Computer Graphics applied to Architecture and
Design (LCAD), at the Architecture School of the Federal University of Bahia (FAUFBA), Brazil, in cooperation with the Università
Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM, DICEA Department), Italy, in documenting architectural heritage. The research set up now has
been carried out in the historical sites of Bahia, as Pelourinho neighborhood, a World Heritage by UNESCO. Other historical sites
are in the plan of this survey, like the cities of Lençóis and Mucugê in Chapada Diamantina region. The aim is to build a
technological platform based on low cost digital technologies and open source tools, such as Panoramic Spherical Photogrammetry,
Spatial Database, Geographic Information Systems, Three-dimensional Geometric Modeling, CAD technology, for the collection,
validation and dissemination of AH.
1. INTRODUCTION
Besides the more obvious applications in conservation and
restoration of the buildings, the architectural documentation
plays a vital role in preserving the memory of this heritage.
This is a highly relevant aspect, given the impossibility of the
physical preservation of all significant samples. There are
several reasons for this, from the simple effect of time and
weather, to more serious and dangerous causes such as heavy
rains and floods, fires, earthquakes, neglect, abandonment
and vandalism, among others (Amorim, 2007).
In Letellier words: Today the world is losing its architectural
and archaeological cultural heritage faster than it can be
documented. Human-caused disasters, such as war and
uncontrolled development, are major culprits. Natural
disasters, neglect, and inappropriate conservation are also
among the reasons that this heritage is vanishing. Although
we should strive to preserve as much as possible of our
architectural and archaeological cultural heritage, we
cannot save everything. One of the options available to
heritage managers and decision makers is to document this
heritage before it is lost. (Letellier, 2007).
Bahia state has been a pioneer in Brazil on leading a large
initiative on documenting its cultural heritage; it takes more
than 30 years and covers about one thousand and a hundred
monuments. This important work began 1974, in order to
create the inventory of cultural collection protection of Bahia,
called IPAC (Inventário de Proteção do Acervo Cultural da
Bahia), which divides the state in five regions, for inventory
purpose. One of these issues is dedicated to the cities of
Chapada Diamantina region where a lot of very smalls and
delicate architectural exist, like Lençóis, Mucugê, Rio de
Contas, and Igatú, among others (BAHIA, 1980). This work
was sponsored by the Bahia State Government and it was
published in six books, printed in black & white.
Although broad and important, this work does not cover all
the Architectural Heritage of Bahia, which is continually
subjected to all kinds of risks. This inventory, prepared for
the purpose of knowledge, is not enough to confer effective
protection efficiently, given the fact that some buildings
which were listed no longer exist. This fact is particularly
worrying considering that, except for few examples, the most
buildings from the colonial period were composed of raw
earth and wood, materials that are completely destroyed by
water and fire (Figure 1).
So, in order to protect them against the all kinds of risks,
even natural hazards, preserving the memory of Bahia’s
Cultural Heritage, it is necessary a huge effort to elaborate a
complete and detailed digital multimedia data base of Bahia’s
Architectural Heritage.
In this sense, an initiative latest (2004) promoted by the
Laboratory of Computer Graphics applied to Architecture and
Design (LCAD), at the Architecture School of the Federal
University of Bahia (FAUFBA), seeks to build this database
using several technologies like digital Photogrammetry,
digital Cartography, Spatial Database, Geographic
Information Systems, three-dimensional geometric Modeling,
CAD technology and 3D Laser scanning technology
(Amorim, 2011). In spite of the quality of work and the
results achieved, little progress was made, for lack of specific
funding sources.
This paper discuss about a developing research at the LCAD,
This contribution has been peer-reviewed. The peer-review was conducted on the basis of the abstract
219
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
XXIV International CIPA Symposium, 2 – 6 September 2013, Strasbourg, France
with the partnership of Università Politecnica delle Marche
(UNIVPM, DICEA Department), Italy, which has a long
tradition and experience in such kind of work (Gabrielli et al.,
2007). The research aims to develop a methodological
approach to document architectural heritage in the Bahia
state, in Brazil, using a set of low cost digital technologies, as
a way to increase speed and improve the documentation
work. This is a very important aspect considering the Bahia
state has the same area than France.
requirements, developing procedures, we provide the
integration of different types of data and the knowledge of
the selected artifacts.
The Panoramic Spherical Photogrammetry (PSP) seems to
satisfy many requirements to collect in fast and simple way a
lot of AH. It is a new photogrammetric technique for
architectural recording very low-cost. It provides panoramic
images with great resolution, (much larger than any
commercial camera), distortion-free, wide Field of View (up
to 360°), reducing drastically the amount of the traditional
photogrammetric models, which are necessary to do a 3D
surveying (Fangi, 2010).
There are several advantages to using panoramic images. One
of these is that a spherical panorama, even a partial one,
normally having a larger field of view, allows a better
comprehension of the object and it needs a smaller number of
images. This is evident in indoor applications but it is also
present outdoors, where only a portion of the 360° panorama
is covered (Figures 2, 3). In addition, a wider field of view
allows the operator to get closer to the object and resulting in
a larger photo scale.
Figure 2. Example of outdoor spherical panorama: Igreja de
Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia, Bahia.
Figure 1. Example of house destruction during the period
(2005-2010) at Igatú, in Chapada Diamantina.
2. AN OVERVIEW ABOUT LOW COST AND OPEN
SOURCE CATALOUGING SOLUTIONS
The aim of this research is to build a technological platform
based on low cost digital technologies and open source tools.
The Panoramic Spherical Photogrammetry (PSP) solves the
first step of acquisition; the spatial database collects and
organizes all the information in a structural way producing
some reports.
The other improvement is the export of the database in a
desktop Geographic Information System, to localize on the
world satellite map the AH data and to display the related
data sheet or multimedia data, activating some hyperlink.
Final it is good the dissemination on Web.
Our research will focus on development of methods and
technologies for construction of libraries of 3D digital models
representing architectural artifacts in order to have access to
information in real time on off-line or web-based systems.
Analyzing different scenarios, satisfying standard and quality
Figure 3. Examples of indoor spherical panoramas: Igreja de
Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia, Bahia.
In general, as the panorama is an omnidirectional image, it
facilitates the operator in the field by freeing him from the
constraint of the fixed field of view, inherent in the traditional
camera. So it makes this acquisition method more affordable
and cheaper than other surveying approaches, for cultural and
architectural metric documentation.
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In general, panoramic images look impressive, but to be
suitable for measurement they must fulfill some rigid
geometric conditions (Fangi 2007). The PSP works by means
of an analytical approach based on spherical images to realize
2D and 3D CAD Modeling products (Figure 4).
In this last decade many architectural heritage have been
documented by this approach with good accuracy and many
details, in every parts of the World (Fangi et al., 2012; Pisa et
al., 2010).
For this reason we have decided to organize the achieved data
by means a basic database to retrieve quickly the information,
useful for different purposes: historical analysis, architectural
knowledge and promotional aspects.
localization, and so on) by a database.
The knowledge and the documentation are essential and very
important to protect and to promote the AH in general. The
cataloguing in standard format of every available data allows
deciding the priorities and the type of actions for the
monument maintenance and restoration. We give an example
of a dedicated IS, collecting and organizing several kinds of
documents.
3.1. Database collection and organization: the Object
Table
The correct design of the database is essential to solve the
required goals. The database design process consists of the
following steps: to determine the purpose of the database, to
find and organize all the required types of information, to
divide them into tables, to identify the list of each item
characterizing the subject (a potential field in each table), to
select a field like primary key, to identify uniquely each
subject (record in the table). Even if this list is not complete,
it is a good starting point and you can continue to refine it up
to a better design.
The use of the software Microsoft Access allows to organize
complex and basic database based on a conceptual model,
easy to manage, that can produce a report in automatic way
too.
Figure 4. CAD 3D wireframe model of the Igreja de Nossa
Senhora da Conceição da Praia, Bahia.
According to the philosophy to use as soon as possible low
cost or well known solutions we implement the database core
in Microsoft Access. This platform is useful and simple to
manage a lot of records, each of these is referred to a single
object characterized by many attributes/features.
Once chosen the aim, the subjects and the related items, we
organized, by Microsoft Access, the information into a
simple basic database, made of only one table: list of rows
(records) and columns (fields).
The Object Table (Figure 5) is built by these elements and
stores all the collected data. The fields describe many
characteristics of each object stored in each record, using
different format such as text, number, date, hyperlink and
attached file.
The Access table is not the only product but it is possible to
produce a report in form of data sheet, which summarizes, in
organized manner, some distinctive features, useful for the
knowledge of the object. Unfortunately, this tool has not a
mapping support, so it needs to transfer the table, like a text,
in an open source GIS environment. Between the open source
software with much more performances now Quantum GIS
(QGIS) is the top. QGIS is a cross-platform free and open
source desktop GIS application that provides data viewing,
editing, and analysis capabilities.
Gary Sherman began development of Quantum GIS in early
2002, and it became an incubator project of the Open Source
Geospatial Foundation in 2007. QGIS allows the use of shape
files, coverage, and personal geo-database. Web services
(including Web Map Service and Web Feature Service) are
also supported to allow to use the data from external sources.
It has a big community of developers and users which can
provide new releases and new advanced skills. The queries
and the actions manage the choice of the information and
allow the display, by hyperlink, of documents and
multimedia contents.
3. A BASIC AH DATABASE IMPLEMENTATION
This research, how we told above, sets the objective to create
an Architectural Heritage (AH) cataloguing by means of an
Information System (IS), to access, in simple way, to
different types of multimedia contents (images, drawings, 3D
geometric models, animations, videos, descriptions,
Figure 5. The Object Table items (fields)
For the purpose of our research we built a simple Object
Table whose fields track some items such as: ID; Object
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International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
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name; Description; Localization (Continent, Nation, City, and
so on); different types of Coordinates (latitude and longitude
WGS84 and East, North UTM – WGS84); link to the
products (panoramic images, drawings, multimedia contents)
stored into a relative file path; participants (Authors) to the
database project; customization to export the table in QGIS
and other features.
The database implementation won’t redundant data, because
it wastes space, increases the likelihood of errors and
inconsistencies; but, on the other hand, it requires the
correctness and completeness of information.
printing or viewing on screen (Figure 8). It can be updated
immediately when you update the Object Table fields.
Grouping and presenting data in many different ways makes
it a meaningful tool.
Reports provide a way to distribute or archive snapshots of
your data, either by being printed out, converted to PDF or
XPS files, or exported to other file formats suitable for the
web sharing, such as XML files.
Every investigated architectural heritage was stored in each
record of a unique table and consequently the possible type of
relationship is one-to-one, recording some special
information applied to a specific product, so the table share a
common column or columns, useful to search, in a simple
query, the information.
Once generated the Object Table, the fields of each record
were populated with the information, satisfying as soon as
possible the set of items in each column (Figure 6). Then it
will be possible to create queries, add new records, manage
the information and so on.
Figure 7. The Object Form structure
Figure 6. Some records of the Object Table
3.2. The data report: the Object Form
The database keeps a list of customer information for the
purpose of producing reports. In fact another stage in
Microsoft Access is to design the report in relation to the
items that you want place on it, creating some captions to
identify them. It is a good thing to construct a report or output
listing because you have an overview of the database in
descriptive form to share it in different ways.
The Object Form is the tool that allows to organize the items
of the Object Table in specific boxes to obtain a descriptive
data sheet. A data sheet is made of controls, such as text
boxes, display data, other decorative elements, such as
separator lines or company logos. A page may contain
several headings grouping data. You can view the Object
Form structure related to our research project in Figure 7.
Arranged the database, the use of the Object Form
summarizes and displays the data in form of report or data
sheet. It’s much easier to create meaningful reports if the
database has a well-designed table structure and
relationships.
A big opportunity is that the report is filled automatically,
retrieving the information from the Object Table fields and
displays them in an attractive and informative layout for
Figure 8. The report in form of data sheet summarizes the
information of an architectural heritage stored in the database
4. QUANTUM GIS TOOLS TO MAP AN AH
The database upload in the Quantum GIS software has to
satisfy many demands: to localize the database objects in the
geographical context (Google Maps web service), to describe
them by means of data reports, and, in the same time, to
connect every available documentation with the spatial
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datum.
Georeferencing the AH allows to acquire their relationships
with the environmental and human elements, and with the
other heritage goods close to it, offering the best and the most
aware knowledge of themselves. These particular
requirements are satisfied by means of a GIS.
Using specialized photo stitching software such as PTGui and
managing the panorama by Pano2VR (GardenGnome), we
created some media rich virtual panoramic tours. For most
business purposes, a virtual panoramic tour should be
accessible everywhere. The major solution is a web-based
virtual panoramic tour.
4.1 Hyperlink for report visualization
5. THE DATA DISSEMINATION ON WEB
When the architectures are diffused in the territory and
relatively accessible, in so large amount, GIS is the better
way to display geographically an AH data collection, manage
it by the experts or to introduce it to the community, allowing
the information retrieving.
We uploaded Access database in QGIS, which stores the
attribute table, localizes the objects by the Coordinate fields
and uses the QGISOutput field to link to the data sheet or to
virtual panoramic tour (Figure 9) to know and explore the
places (Figure 10).
Figure 9. Hyperlink action to retrieve the data sheet in the
GIS database
The virtual panoramic tour is a simulation of an existing
location, usually composed of a sequence of images,
sometimes adding other multimedia elements such as sound
effects, music, narration, and text (by hotspot connection).
The starting point necessary to create the virtual panoramic
tour is the same panorama at 360°, used for the PSP
processing.
Maybe the most important factor for the protection and
preservation of the monuments is the recognition of their
value by the local people. And so people assign value to the
monument, you need them to know you and know your
history.
Nowadays, the best way to promote the knowledge of the
cultural heritage is using the web applications. So, the
dissemination of the monuments’ information is an essential
part of this project, once this diffusion of the cultural heritage
contributes widely for its recognition and value assignment.
This way, the historical sites of Lençóis and Rio de Contas,
have their own websites, respectively and , where each
registered user can navigate inside the multimedia database
and download the files they want. The social network age and
the spread of the communication on web have made possible
to share massive data directly on-line.
Regardless of immediate applications that led to the
execution of the survey, once data is produced, it needs to be
indexed, stored and preserved for later use. And to ensure
that these data can be used effectively they must be disclosed,
published and retrieved. That closes the cycle that
encompasses planning, gathering, processing, indexing,
storage, publication, dissemination, retrieval and use of data
and information on buildings and architectural ensembles.
Information which in turn will influence the conservation and
interventions on these sites by generating a new cycle of
documentation, to be repeated indefinitely throughout the
lifetime of the building and sometimes even after their
destruction.
In this new approach, the final result of this research is
related to the dissemination of the AH database by means of
the Google platform. At the moment we have tried to use an
experimental data visualization web application to gather,
visualize, and share bigger table data on-line: Fusion Tables
(Google Drive environment) (Figure 11).
We have uploaded the data table from spreadsheet or CSV
file and then filtered and displayed it on satellite map;
successively we shall customize the layout according to ours
necessity.
Figure 10. Virtual panoramic tour joints the data sheet (by
hotspot connection) stored in the GIS database
In addition to its great potential for visual exploration of
monuments and historic sites, the sense of immersion that
this kind of resource provides combining a high level of
detail and realism, the panorama can be used as a powerful
interface to show multimedia data related to the displayed
objects in the scene. All this can be done according to levels
of information previously selected for different types of
users.
All the data are stored in Google Drive or it will be possible
to use other web spaces. The updating of any new table is
very easy by means of the merge function that generates a
single visualization including both sets of data and showing
the latest value too. The Google platform makes the data on a
map immediately: points, lines, polygons, customer
addresses, place names, countries and more can be mapped
automatically by means the location data stored in the fields
of the table.
Exporting the KML file you can view it in Google Earth or
providing a dynamic link to Fusion Table, any changes to the
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International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XL-5/W2, 2013
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data online are reflected in Google Earth and share it to the
community. The data can be shared at different levels and
discussed with others, or to find public data combining with
yours for a better visualization of all information in one
place.
You can share only what you want, keeping some of your
dataset private and publishing a subset of rows or columns
according to own share permissions. This makes it a powerful
tool when you want to diffuse and promote the knowledge of
the building heritage on the World. It is as a big community
that works together.
Fangi, G., 2007. The Multi-image spherical Panoramas as a
tool for Architectural Survey. In: ISPRS International
Archives, Vol. XXXVI, Part. 5/C53, CIPA Archives, Vol.
XXI, pp. 311-316.
Fangi, G., 2010. Multiscale Multiresolution Spherical
Photogrammetry With Long Focal Lenses For Architectural
Surveys. In: ISPRS International Archives, Vol. XXXVIII,
Part 5, pp. 228-233.
Fangi, G., Pierdicca, R., 2012. Notre Dame du Haut by
Spherical Photogrammetry integrated by Point Clouds
generated by Multi-view Software. International Journal of
Cultural Heritage in the Digital Era, Vol. I, n. 3, pp. 461478.
Gabrielli, M., Malinverni, E. S., 2007. Multimedia Database
for the Heritage Information System of the Ancyra Project.
In: Proceedings of XXI CIPA International Symposium
“Anticipating the Future of the Cultural Past”, Athens
(Greece), pp. 323-417.
Figure 11. Dissemination on web by Fusion Tables in Google
Letellier, R., 2007. Recording, Documentation, and
Information Management for the Conservation of Heritage
Places: guiding principles. The Getty Conservation Institute,
Los Angeles.
CONCLUSIONS
As explained here, the documentation process for
architectural and urban sites, because of the amount of
variables involved and resources allocated is a complex and
multidisciplinary activity, involving traditional disciplines
such as architecture, design, survey methods, history and art
history and strongly combining digital microelectronics,
computer science and information science, involving
significant technological, financial and human resources.
Pisa, C., Zeppa, F., Fangi, G., 2010. Spherical
Photogrammetry for Cultural Heritage - San Galgano Abbey,
Siena, Italy And Roman Theatre, Sabratha, Libya. In: ACM
Journal on Computing and Cultural Heritage, Vol. 4, No. 3
The documentation can’t protect physically the buildings, but
can provide information for their restoration in case of any
accident. However, in case of the building being completely
wracked, the multimedia database could preserve its memory
for the future generations and educational purposes.
Finally, with this public divulgation of this architectural
heritage database, we hope to contribute for historical sites
preservation by promoting the knowledge about them. The
valorization of these urban sets is an effective way to protect
them and call the attention for the urgency of a heritage
protection policy and the risk they are submitted
continuously. By the end of this project, it is expected that all
this data and information will be available at the project
website on the internet.
REFERENCES
Amorim, A. L., 2007. Documenting architectural heritage in
Bahia – Brazil, using digital technologies. In: Proceedings of
XXI CIPA International Symposium “Anticipating the Future
of the Cultural Past”, Athens (Greece), pp. 61-66.
Amorim, A. L., 2011: Methodological aspects of architectural
documentation. In: Proceedings of XXIII International CIPA
Symposium, Prague (Czech Republic).
BAHIA, Inventário de proteção do acervo cultural da Bahia.
Monumentos e sítios da Serra Geral e Chapada Diamantina.
v. 4. Salvador, 1980.
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